Bev Perdue American politician, the 73rd and current Governor of North Carolina Date of Birth: 14.01.1947 Country: USA

1. Beverly Perdue: North Carolina's First Female Governor
2. Political Career
3. Governor of North Carolina
4. Post-Governorship

Beverly Perdue: North Carolina's First Female Governor

Beverly Marlene Moore was born on January 14, 1947, in Grundy, Virginia. Her father was a coal miner who rose to become a utility company executive. Perdue attended the University of Kentucky, later earning a master's degree in education and a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Florida. Prior to entering politics, she worked as a hospital consultant and administrator.

Political Career

Perdue entered the political arena in 1987 as a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives. She then served for a decade as Budget Chairman of the North Carolina Senate, where she became the first female to hold that role. During her tenure, teacher salaries increased.

In 2000, she defeated Republican Betsy Cochrane to become Lieutenant Governor, again becoming the first woman to hold that position, and was re-elected in 2004. In October 2007, Perdue announced her intention to run for Governor in the 2008 election and began her campaign.

Governor of North Carolina

On May 6, 2008, Perdue emerged victorious from the Democratic primary, defeating fellow candidates Richard H. Moore and Dennis Nielsen. For the general election, Perdue raised $15 million and attacked Republican opponent Pat McCrory, the Mayor of Charlotte, for not being tough enough on illegal immigration (a stance Perdue strongly took). She won on November 4, 2008, by a slim margin of 50.3% to McCrory's 46.9%, and was sworn in on January 10, 2009. Walter H. Dalton became her Lieutenant Governor.

Post-Governorship

Following her inauguration, Governor Perdue initially enjoyed high approval ratings, but those ratings dropped by 30 percentage points by June 2009.